"Speak as loud as that again, and you will follow me whither you would not go. Listen, John Jenkins. You must stay here. I promise you this: no harm shall come to you. I will not haunt the tower this night. There, lie on the straw. If you make a sound before the church clock strikes seven to-morrow morning you shall feel the power of Jezebel Grigg, the witch who was burnt here. When you are asked questions in the morning, tell the governor that you were seeing that all was safe for the night when I came and put you here. Give me your keys." Like a thing half dead he obeyed, and though I was not altogether free from superstitious fear I could not help laughing at the fellow's agony. "Now follow me, Roger Trevanion," said the hooded form, turning to me, still in the voice of a toothless old woman. I followed without a word, but not without many misgivings, for although I had professed to scorn the power of witches, I was at that time sore distraught. Still she promised me liberty, and in my inmost heart I believed that the creature was a friend. When we were outside the tower she locked the door carefully and placed the key close by. After this she led the way to the angle in the wall spoken of in the letter, where I saw the end of a rope ladder. "Climb, Roger Trevanion," she whispered. "You are a woman; go first," I said. "Climb, Roger Trevanion," she repeated imperiously; "your danger is greater than mine." Much as I disliked doing this I obeyed. A few seconds later I stood on the top of the wall, and turning round I saw the dim outline of the castle looming up into the dark sky, while lying beneath it was the unwholesome den where the prisoners lay. Looking beneath me, I could see the hooded form of my deliverer, standing as still as a statue. On the other side I saw three horses saddled. "Hold the rope while I climb." I held the rope as commanded, and a minute later the woman stood by my side. "Could you leap to that branch of the tree, and descend to the path that way?" she said, pointing to the spreading branches of an elm-tree which grew close by. "Easily," I replied. "Then hold the ladder while I descend." Like one in a dream I obeyed, and then watched while with great agility she descended from fifteen to twenty feet below. "Now be quick," she said, "all is ready." At that moment my heart gave a great leap, for I heard a cry come from the Witch's Tower. A wild, despairing cry, more like the yell of a wild beast than that of a human being. I took my hands from the rope, and immediately it was pulled away. I was on the top of the castle wall alone. "Be quick, quick, or all is lost," cried a voice peremptorily from beneath. I did not hesitate, dangerous as my feat was. In the gloom of the night I saw the dark branch of the tree; I gave a leap towards it and caught it. The branch yielded with my weight so much that my feet were only a few feet from the ground. "Let go, let go!"